August 2022 - Action on Climate Emergency (ACE)

Waters most foul

Barry White

As George Eustice the environment secretary announced at the end of last week that water companies would have to invest £56bn over 25 years in a long term programme to tackle storm sewage discharges, the Yorkshire Post (https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/environment/sewage-spilled-into-yorkshires-waterways-for-15-million-hours-over-last-six-years-figures-show-3821116) reported that sewage had been allowed into Yorkshire waterways for more than 1.5m hours over the last six years. Yorkshire Water recorded 1669,575 spillage incidents between 2016 and 2021 which equated to one incident every 18 minutes according to figures obtained by the Labour Party.

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Solar farm refusals on the increase

Barry White

Solar farms are being refused planning permission in Great Britain at the highest rate in five years, analysis has found, with projects which would have cut £100m off annual electricity bills turned down in the past 18 months.

The Guardian reports (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/aug/25/solar-farm-plans-refused-highest-rate-five-years-great-britain that planning permission for 23 solar farms was refused in Great Britain between January 2021 and July 2022, which could have produced enough renewable energy to power an estimated 147,000 homes annually, according to analysis of government figures by the planning and development consultancy Turley.

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Water, water everywhere (else)…

Barry White

The Guardian reports (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/aug/19/water-firms-england-wales-litres-leaky-pipes-ofwat ) that the water and financial regulator Ofwat says water companies lost an average of 2,923.8m litres of water a day in 2021-22 due to leaky pipes equating to more than 1tn litres. Although Ofwat said the figures remained provisional until it has completed validation checks, they amount to the equivalent of 426,875 Olympic swimming pools or more than three and a half Lake Windermeres!

Thames Water leaked the largest volumes, according to the industry body Water UK, losing 217bn litres of water over the year – last week, the company announced it would introduce a hosepipe ban from 24 August, affecting 15 million customers. Severn Trent Water followed close behind with 161bn litres leaked over the year, United Utilities with 151bn litres leaked, Yorkshire Water with 103bn litres and Northumbrian Water with 69bn litres lost.

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Endangered bus services get an extra £130m

Barry White

Regional bus services in England including many in Yorkshire that were at risk, have been given a reprieve after yesterday’s government announcement of £130m for at least six months. Many services faced being cut back when Covid grants which supported services during the pandemic, expired at the start of October. The Department for Transport said it would provide further support to ensure that services keep running until March 2023.

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